


Dwell In Possibility

by Kookykrumbs



Series: Fate Binds Us - Missing Scenes [8]
Category: Terminator (Movies), Terminator - All Media Types, Terminator Dark Fate
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Fate & Destiny, Missing Scene, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-24
Updated: 2020-02-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:33:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22876357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kookykrumbs/pseuds/Kookykrumbs
Summary: Dani receives the devastating news that Grace had volunteered to be an augment.  The chain of events will lead to the inevitable outcome of Grace going back in time to protect Dani from the Rev-9.  But where there's a will, there's a way, and all Dani has left is hope that perhaps this second time around, it all won't end so tragically.  This fic takes place in the same universe as my fic, Fate Binds Us.  But this can be read as a standalone.
Relationships: Grace Harper & Dani Ramos, Grace Harper/Dani Ramos
Series: Fate Binds Us - Missing Scenes [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1608526
Comments: 12
Kudos: 79





	Dwell In Possibility

**Author’s Notes:** Well folks, we’re getting closer and closer to bridging this series with my fic, [Fate Binds Us](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21614152/chapters/51539728). I have in mind an idea of giving both future Dani and past Dani a happy ending, but you’ll have to stick with me to find out how. Also, this fic takes place three years since the last installment [_Battered But Whole_](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22750639). This can be read as a standalone though.

_“Faith means believing the unbelievable. Hope means hoping when everything seems hopeless.” – G.K. Chesterson_

****

** Dwell In Possibility **

****

Dani was woken up by a cacophony of unfamiliar voices. She tried to swallow but some kind of tube was in her mouth. She opened one eye but the light in the room was so harsh she was forced to close it before she could make out anything. She noticed the sounds of various machines humming and beeping around her. She tried moving her arm but felt a pinch; there was something attached to it. It was then she realized she had various lines and tubes on her body. She also felt a bandage wrapped around half her head.

It was then the memory hit her hard. She and half the resistance were in a do-or-die mission to destroy the largest assembly line of the Rev-8s in what used to be Blaine, Washington. The preceding model, the Rev-7s had proven to be their toughest enemies to date. Their ability to separate into two distinct entities essentially made one Rev unit an enemy of two. The mimetic polyalloy coating their endoskeleton allowed the terminators to reach out several meters to attack their target, often impaling them with their long tentacles. 

Their first encounter with a Rev-8 had been a month prior. Although it didn’t have the size or blunt strength of the Rev-7s, it was more dangerous because it had a human anatomy. It had infiltrated the resistance’s training base in Dallas, Texas. It had killed seventeen cadets, two lieutenants and Col. Ramirez before it was outed as the terminator it was. It had looked exactly human, but the difference was that it couldn’t speak or act human. But Dani knew that the Rev-9 model that was yet to be created would close those gaps. 

Dani’s team had been successful in destroying half the assembly plant of the Rev-8s when HKs had been called for backup. Operational Rev-8s also came out in droves to attack them. They had been in the middle of a retreat. She and Grace were running from a hoard of terminators. One of their dragonflies landed mere yards from them. But one of their cadets, Private Wong was hit in the leg and fell behind. Grace had already jumped aboard the dragonfly and was reaching her hand out for Dani to take, but she turned back. She ran to where Private Wong lay on the ground writhing in pain. Dani tried dragging him back but before they got very far, a Rev-8 fell from an HK several meters from them. The last thing Dani could remember was a huge explosion and Grace’s voice screaming her name.

“Grace!” Dani tried calling out. She couldn’t even speak as she had an endotracheal tube down her throat. 

“Commander, you’re awake,” an unfamiliar voice said.

Dani heard a machine start beeping erratically. She ripped the bandage from her head that was covering one of her eyes. She looked around and saw that she was in a med bay of some kind. She pulled the tube out of her mouth and ripped the IV from her arm. 

“Commander, please, you have to lie back down. You’re in no condition to-”

“Where am I? Where’s Grace? Where’s Captain Harper?!” Dani asked frantically. Had she made it? Dear Lord, please tell her she made it. If Dani was this injured, Grace would be by her side at that moment if she was able.

Several nurses and a couple of orderlies quickly surrounded Dani. “Please, Commander, you need to calm down-”

“Not until someone answers me!” Dani said. “Where is Captain Harper?!”

“Ma’am, we don’t-” one of the nurses started to say when an authoritative voice interrupted.

“Commander, I’m afraid Captain Harper wasn’t admitted into our care.” It was Dr. Kim. Finally, a familiar face. She made her way through the crowd and approached Dani. 

Dani’s heart dropped. A part of her was afraid to ask what happened. Instead, she asked, “How long have I been here?”

“Twelve days now,” Dr. Kim answered. “You were brought in with severe intercranial hemorrhaging. Commander, you could have died, please lie back down. You’re in no condition to-”

“Until someone can give me answers, I won’t-”

“Perhaps I could be of some help.” Dani looked up to see her friend, Lieutenant Colonel Amanda Carter approach them.

“Col. Carter!” Dani exclaimed.

The Lieutenant Colonel turned to Dr. Kim and said, “Doctor, will you please leave us.”

Dr. Kim nodded and signaled to her staff to leave. Everyone filed out the door and Dani and Amanda were alone, save for some patients in nearby beds. 

“Amanda, where is Grace?” Dani asked, addressing her friend by her first name after the others left.

“She’s… fine…” Dani did not miss the hesitation in her friend’s voice.

“If she was fine, she’d be here. Please, Amanda… I need to know,” Dani pleaded.

Her friend sighed. “She’s alive…. But she was severely injured during your escape…”

Dani’s heart was in her throat. She’d all but stopped breathing waiting for Amanda to continue.

“She saved your life, Dani. You were badly injured. You had to be brought back to base on a stretcher. But before your team could get you indoors, the Rev-7s caught up to them outside. It was a quick but bloody battle…”

“Dear God… It was my fault. I got myself hurt… I had gone back for Private Wong…”  
  


“Who, I’m sorry to say, didn’t make it.”

Another death on her hands. “And Grace?”

“She suffered several puncture wounds in her torso…”

Dani squeezed her eyes shut, tears running down her cheeks. “You mean she was impaled.”

“…Yes.”

“But you said she’s still alive…. How?”

“Now… just hear me out, Dani. I know you’re not going to like this… But just hear me out.”

“What is it, Amanda? What haven’t you told me?”

“Grace, she uhhh… she volunteered to become an augment.”

Dani didn’t hear anymore. The only thing she could hear was the blood rushing to her ears. She watched as Amanda Carter’s lips continued to move, but she couldn’t comprehend anything else she was saying. After a moment, Dani finally got her bearings back.

“What do you mean she volunteered for the augmentation program? I eliminated her as a suitable candidate. I personally put notes on her file saying she was barred from that program under any circumstances!” Dani said, angrily.

“You were severely injured, Dani. We couldn’t consult you. And Grace’s spine was damaged beyond repair. Even if she survived, she would have been paralyzed permanently. The situation made her the perfect candidate.”

“I said, under any circumstances!”

“There was no reason for us to deny her request. She begged for it, Dani. With her last breath, she begged for it! We gave Grace her best chance.”

Dani couldn’t handle the emotions overwhelming her anymore and she broke down and sobbed. She cried like her heart was breaking. Despite her numbness, she could feel Amanda Carter’s arms go around her, offering what comfort she could. 

“We haven’t lost her yet, Dani. Have hope.”

“Don’t you see, I’ve lost her already, Amanda…. I’m just the only one who knows it,” Dani said, between sobbing breaths. 

“I don’t understand.”

“I know…” Dani said, heartbroken. “I know…”

**Three months later**

Dani sat by Grace’s prone form in a top-secret lab deep underground of their base. This was where the entire human augmentation program was conducted. So far, Grace had only been the third candidate for the program to survive, and even that wasn’t a sure thing at this stage. The whole process took around a year. The constant surgeries and recovery time made the whole process incredibly lengthy and precarious. Grace had been in an induced coma for the last three months. She had so far survived the most difficult part of the entire process which was to graft the metal onto strategic parts of her skeleton. 

The electronic parts of her augmentation were the next steps. Her hearing had been augmented to include micro-chips capable of hearing even the minutest detail around her. Currently, her eyes had been temporarily removed to implant the necessary microprocessors to improve her vision as well as her aim. 

Dani looked at Grace lying so still on the bed next to her. She shuddered at the thought of Grace’s beautiful eyes being taken out and worked on like they were mere gadgets. Had Grace known what she was signing up for? The Grace she had met before the war had told her she would go through the whole process again if it meant she could protect Dani. It was incomprehensible for Dani that someone would knowingly go through all of this again. Seeing it firsthand left her in complete awe.

Dani thought back to a conversation she and Grace had about two years prior…

_“Hey, long day?” Grace asked, as Dani walked into their quarters._

_“They’re all long. I’m just glad to be home now,” Dani said, making her way over to Grace and kissing her in greeting._

_“Yeah, me too. A part of me wondered if you were just going to sleep in your office tonight,” Grace said, half-jokingly._

_“It was just problem after problem I had to deal with. How about you? How was your day?”_

_“Fine… Hey Dani, I’ve been meaning to ask you…. What’s this rumor I’ve been hearing around the base about this new program to make humans stronger and faster by implanting Rev technology in them? Any truth to that?”_

_Dani froze mid breath. The last thing she wanted to do was discuss augmentation with Grace. “It’s something our scientists are exploring.”_

_“Oh, come on, Dani. I’m sure you can tell me more than that! This is interesting stuff. Can you imagine the advantage we could have with this technology?” Grace said, excitedly._

_“It’s still a long ways away from being reality, Grace,” Dani lied. “Don’t waste time thinking about it.”_

_“Aren’t you even a little excited, Dani? I mean, I would totally volunteer for something like that.”_

_“No! Look, Grace, even if we could get such a program off the ground, it’s not something I would want for you. Do you have any idea the risks associated with such a change to your body? Do you have any idea the amount of medication you would be stuck with for the rest of your life? The dangerous missions I’d be forced to send you on?”_

_“But… I could better protect you,” Grace said, ignoring all her other points._

_“Like I’ve said a million times to you already. It’s not your responsibility to protect me. Despite that, you’ve done an amazing job keeping me safe these past couple of years. No need to change anything. Besides, if you don’t survive the augmentation process, then you won’t be able to protect me anyway.”_

_Grace shrugged. “I guess… still, it’s an interesting thought…”_

Dani’s thoughts were interrupted by Lt. Col Amanda Carter knocking on the door.

“Come in,” Dani said.

“Hey Dani, sorry to disturb you-”

“No, it’s okay. What’s up?” Dani asked.

“I just wanted to ask you about something…. You see, my team and I received a requisition to mine more samarium. As you know, since Judgment Day, it’s a metal that’s incredibly hard to procure. More than that, Legion is constantly patrolling those mines. When I asked Dr. Farraday what the purpose was for the additional samarium, he said that you ordered him to have two power sources for Grace.”

“That’s right.”

“I’m sorry… But I don’t understand. We’ve had two successful augments in Jacobsen and Markstrom and the single power source implanted in them have been more than sufficient.”

“I know.”

“Umm… Dani… With all due respect, you’re not giving me much here… I’m reluctant to send my men and women out there in the field to procure more samarium, thereby putting their lives at risk, when there’s no need.”

“Amanda, trust me. There’s a need.”

“Then why didn’t you ask for a second power source for Jacobsen or Markstrom?”

“They don’t need a second one.”

“And Grace does?”

“Yes.”

“Dani… I’ve never known you to be rash, nor impulsive, nor unreasonable… unless when it comes to Grace. Is this one of those times?” Amanda asked, obviously knowing her quite well.

“Please just trust me, Amanda. It’s necessary.”

“I do trust you, Dani. But I also know you don’t always think straight where Grace is concerned. And I know you can order me to do this, and I would do it. But please, as your friend, can you explain this to me?”

Dani sighed. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Amanda. It’s just that she wasn’t ready to put into words what’s haunted her for almost two decades. But she looked at her friend and realized she owed her an explanation for what would seem a very unreasonable request. And she knew that Amanda would keep her silence.

“Do you know how I met Grace?” Dani asked.

“Of course, she’s told me so herself.”

Dani laughed mirthlessly. “No, that’s how she met me. But that’s not how I met her.”

“ _Okay_ … I’m waiting for the punchline here.”

“When I was twenty-one, Legion had sent a Rev-9 terminator to assassinate me in Mexico City. The human resistance… _our resistance_ … had sent a super soldier from the future to protect me. I’ll give you a guess who that super soldier was,” Dani said.

“You’re joking…. You’re not joking… What the?!... No… No way…. Oh my God!” Amanda said, shocked.

“I know…. Sometimes, I still struggle to wrap my mind around it all.”

“What happened to Grace? The other Grace? The one sent back to rescue you?”

“She gave up her power source so we could defeat the Rev-9. We used it as an EMP.”

“I see,” Amanda said, momentarily speechless. “Good God…. You’re not making this up, are you?”

“You have no idea how much I wish I was.”

“A backup power source might have saved her life. Jesus…. Now I understand why you were so devastated when you’d learned that Grace had volunteered to become an augment. And I knew that Legion was trying to create a time machine, we’ve done a lot to slow down their progress… But it sounds to me like they’ll get there anyway.”

Dani just shrugged. “Grace becoming an augment was an outcome I wanted to avoid at all cost. But as always, destiny has me at its mercy.”

“But Dani…. If Grace hadn’t been sent to the past to protect you… then you’d be dead now. And all this, all the gains we’ve made since the machines took over, it wouldn’t exist.”

“There’s always someone in the wings waiting to take up the mantle. Trust me, there was supposed to be a leader named John Connor before me who would have been the leader of the human resistance, but he was assassinated…. And I ended up being it.”

“Well, still…. You don’t know if there’s anyone waiting in the wings after you… And quite frankly, I don’t know if there’s anyone else who could have done what you’ve done.”

“It’s not worth Grace dying,” Dani said.

“She obviously disagreed,” Amanda said, wryly.

Dani nodded. “Yeah, well, we’ve never seen eye to eye when it comes to this.”

“Well, I will say this… I’d hate to be Grace when she’s finally pulled out of her coma. I can only imagine the hell you’ll give her,” Amanda said, getting up.

Dani couldn’t help but chuckle. “But in the end, can I really hold this against her? After all, do we choose our path or does the path choose for us?”

“That’s… thought provoking.”

“Concepts of fate and destiny usually are. Anyway, I’m holding on to the hope that I can still avert sending her back to the past…”

“If Legion does manage to send a terminator to 2020 to assassinate you, please, let fate take its course and send Grace back. It would be our only guarantee that you’d survive.”

“Sorry, I’m gonna do my very best and make sure Grace doesn’t go back. But just in case destiny thwarts me again, would you mind getting that additional samarium for me?”

“If you really want to avoid sending Grace back to the past, then you should be focusing all your energy into stopping Legion from sending a terminator to the past to begin with.”

“If only I knew where to start. Their resources are massive. Their bases are many and extensive.”

“We all have your back, Dani. I’ll make this a priority for my team.”

“Thank you, Amanda. You can start by getting me that samarium.”

**Eight months later**

“Shit,” Grace mumbled, as she accidentally twisted the doorknob right out of the door. “This is what Superman probably went through.”

Dani watched in amusement as Grace broke the dozenth item in their quarters in the past forty-eight hours or so. “Don’t get frustrated, Grace. Dr. Farraday said it would take you perhaps a couple of months to truly master your new… enhancements.”

Grace had been pulled out of her induced coma five weeks prior. However, she’d only been allowed back home just a couple of days ago. Before that, she had been under constant supervision in the lab. It had been pretty much around-the-clock surveillance. Dani could only imagine how oppressed Grace had felt. But she hadn’t complained. She knew how upset Dani had been with her choice to become an augment. The last thing she would do was complain about it. 

Grace at first didn’t take well to the changes in her body, but it was improving each day. She had felt constantly nauseated for the first several days until the doctors finally found the right dose for each of the medication she needed to take on a regular basis. It was different for each augment. Her enhanced sense of hearing also caused her a tremendous amount of pain. She still had a difficult time drowning out unnecessary noise. Lastly and most frustratingly, she still hadn’t mastered her newfound strength. Grace was in a constant state of worry that she might accidentally hurt Dani that she hasn’t even held her in her arms let alone made love to her since her return.

Grace slumped in a nearby chair, obviously disheartened. “When I was injured in battle, I thought it was the perfect excuse to become an augment so I could better protect you. At this rate, you’ll need protection from me.”

“Oh, Grace…” 

“Was this why you were so devastated when you’d learned I volunteered? You knew I’d turn into such a fuck-up?” Grace said, still wallowing in her self-pity.

Dani, sadly, couldn’t tell her the whole truth. “I was devastated because you’ll never live a normal life now. As an augment you’ll be asked to be in the front line of every major military operation we undertake. There’s only three of you after all. And what excuse could I give to prevent you from going? That I happen to love you but not the other two augments? Not to mention that you’ll forever be dependent on medication in order for you to use your augmentation. This isn’t the life I wanted for you.”

“That Rev-7 practically severed my spine. I would have been paralyzed for the rest of my life, Dani, if I even survived.”

“I would have taken care of you.”

“I couldn’t live like that. I need to be able to care for you and protect you. If I couldn’t, then my life would lose its meaning, can’t you understand that?”

“I do… Why do you think I’m still talking to you?” Dani said, half-jokingly.

Grace chuckled. “You love me.”

“Nah… I’d trade you for a couple of scoops of ice-cream right about now.”

“Hey!” Grace said in mock indignation. 

“But seriously, Grace…. Trust me, you’ll overcome these growing pains. Your augmentation will become so second nature to you that you won’t even think about it anymore.”

“Well, you’ve got more confidence in me than I do.”

Dani laughed. “Trust me, one day you’ll even be able to split a housefly mid-air with your pocketknife in the blink of an eye.”

Dani grinned as Grace just looked at her weirdly.

**Twelve months later**

Dani had been lifting weights in the gym for almost an hour already. She had been very restless since Colonel Carter had taken fifty of their most capable men and women as well as all their augments on a crucial mission to take down one of Legion’s bases in what was Salt Lake City. That had been three days ago. The resistance detected the use of incredible amounts of power there, even more so than the bases Legion used as assembly plants to create their terminators. Dani and Col. Carter both strongly suspected that Legion was testing time travel there.

With enough intel and weeks of scouting and reconnaissance missions, Dani finally gave the go-ahead for Col. Carter to take a team and destroy the base. Grace was part of that mission. Dani had wanted to go as well, but she was recovering from the tail end of a nasty flu and had no choice but to stay behind. She had so much restless energy – as she always did whenever she worried about Grace – that she ended up in the gym trying to work it all off. 

Dani was finishing up the last of her reps on the leg machine when she heard footsteps coming from the hallway. She looked up to see a silhouette appearing at the entrance to the gym. The figure moved forward and Dani recognized Col. Carter.

“Amanda! You’re back! Is Grace-”

“Fine, she’s perfectly fine. She’s just getting her routine shots. She’ll be around to see you soon.”

Dani breathed a sigh of relief she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. “Everything else okay? How’d the mission go?”

Dani could tell just by the look on her friend’s face that the news wasn’t good. “It was a failure, Dani. I’m so sorry. I take full responsibility.”

“Hey, I’m sure it wasn’t your fault. Tell me what happened.”

“We knew the base was heavily guarded, but it wasn’t until we got there that we found out just how much. The augments, Captain Harper, Major Jacobsen and Lieutenant Markstrom were able to fight off the Rev-7s guarding the back entrance of the compound. That allowed us a clear path inside the base. But once inside, we had to fight off Rev-8s and 9s which slowed us down tremendously. We lost nine soldiers in the battle. They were heavily guarding a sealed room. When the augments caught up to us, they were able to turn the tide. But it was too late.”

“Too late for what?” Dani asked.

“Our suspicions were correct, Dani. They had built a time machine. But we were wrong in that we thought they were still in the testing phase. It was completed. And just before we finally broke into that room, they had already sent a terminator to the past.”

“I see… Was there a location signature?” Dani asked, already knowing the answer.

“Yes.”

“2020?”

Col. Carter nodded. “Mexico City.”

Dani sighed. “How long before we can no longer latch on to the residual vortex of the time jump?”

“Dr. Farraday and Dr. Leung suspect we have around thirty-six to forty-two hours.”

“Does anyone else know about the time machine?” 

“Except for myself, Col. Holland, and Dr. Farraday and his team of scientists, no, the details of the mission were heavily compartmentalized.”

“I see…. Get me Major Jacobsen. I have a proposition for him,” Dani said, daring her friend to argue with her.

“Dani, please, listen to reason. Since that day over a year ago when you told me about your past, I knew this was a possibility. We’ve done our best to prevent this, but regardless, here we are. Don’t play with fate, please, I beg you. Send Grace. She saved you twenty-two years ago, and she is our only guarantee your younger self will survive.”

“Grace is off limits. I won’t hear another word,” Dani said, her voice brooking no room for argument.

But she got one anyway. “Dani, I know what Grace means to you. But don’t be selfish! If you don’t survive the assassination attempt on you, this, everything we’ve gained, all of our sacrifices will have been for nothing!”

“Jacobsen won’t fail!” Dani argued.

“You don’t know that! History, your very existence, has already proven that Grace will succeed. Even if we didn’t know that, Grace would still be the best choice. Major Jacobsen will protect you merely as his mission. She will protect you because you are her very world. You’re not giving your younger self her best chance!”

“And what about Grace’s chance? She died trying to keep me alive. I swore twenty-two years ago, Amanda, that I would not let her die for me again. By God, I will keep that oath.”

“You’ve given her a backup power source. It was something her other self didn’t have twenty-two years ago. There’s hope, Dani.”

“I’m sorry, Amanda. But I’m standing by my decision.”

“Dani, please-”

“I’m not asking you, Colonel. I’m telling you as your commander. Get me Major Lucas Jacobsen.”

Dani’s heart broke at the disappointed look in the eyes of one of her dearest friends. But she held her resolve. 

“Yes, Commander.”

Amanda Carter walked out of the gymnasium with a heavy heart. She had been one of Dani’s most loyal officers for nearly twenty years. She revered Dani and would die for her. But deep in her heart, she knew that Dani wasn’t thinking straight… she often didn’t when Captain Harper was involved. She couldn’t blame the commander. One would have to be blind, deaf and dumb not to see the love between the commander and Captain Harper. 

And although their relationship was never referred to out loud amongst the resistance out of respect for the commander and Captain Harper, their relationship was basically an open secret. And only the biggest bigots held it against them. But they were few and far between and the cowards didn’t have the courage to say anything out loud anyway.

Amanda sighed as she approached the med bay. She had never before betrayed her commander. She never thought she ever would. But she was about to do just that in a few moments. May God – and the commander – forgive her.

“Captain Harper, how are you feeling?” Amanda said, approaching the younger woman.

“Much better, thank you, Colonel. The meds are kicking in and I feel good as new,” Grace said, smiling.

“Glad to hear it. I take it you’re on your way to see the commander now?” Amanda asked.

Grace smiled. “Of course.”

“I’m sure she’s looking forward to seeing you as well. No doubt she was worried sick the entire time we were gone…. But, do you have a few minutes?”

Grace must have sensed the seriousness in her tone, as her smile dimmed a little. “Of course, Colonel…. Is everything okay?”

“I’m afraid not…. Look, Grace…. How much do you know about the mission we were just on?”

“We needed to destroy another of Legion’s bases. What else is there to know?”

“Captain Harper… _Grace_ …. I’m about to tell you something you’re not supposed to know…”

**To be continued…**

**Author’s Notes:** For those of you who read my fic, Fate Binds Us, you know that this leads almost directly to the beginning of that story. You now all know how Grace found out about the Rev-9 being sent to 2020. My next fic will really tie the storyline of this Grace and Dani, with the 2020 Grace and Dani, if that makes sense. Bear with me, I promise, I’ll make it worth your while. If you guys have any ideas you want to drop my way or just start up a convo feel free to e-mail me at kooky.krumbs@yahoo.com 


End file.
